My Wedding: 5 Things I’d Do Over Differently

My wedding was definitely the best day of my life. (This was one-upped after I gave birth for the first time, but at the time, things couldn’t have been better.)  A perfect golden California day. A glorious dress with my mother’s breathtaking lace veil. Surrounded by all the people I loved most. Marrying the guy of my dreams. How could it have gotten better?

Oh, it could have, but just a teeny-tiny bit, and just in the small details! I was a very laid back bride and pretty much said “OK!” to everything my mom graciously helped me organize. I’m not complaining at all, but if I could do it over again, now that I’m not so starry-eyed, here are some things I’d do differently!

shoes from dress361

1. Loosen up the Pictures! I have a lot of wedding pictures, but they are all pretty formal and pretty standard. I still love looking at them but I’d have added two things:

1. A photo booth, where guests can put on a kooky hat or a feather boa and get a little crazy for the camera!
2. Some version of Trash the Dress. I don’t think I actually want to have trashed it (it went on to have a good life with other brides after I wore it) but I do think it would have been cool to go off somewhere, like the beach or a Malibu hiking trail and had some fun!

2. More color in the Ensemble! I loved my dress, which was a creamy off-white, with a train, embellished with lace and a satin sash with long tails in the back. I wore my mother’s gorgeous lace veil which reached the floor, along with roses in my hair. It was very nearly perfect, except for…

1. I’m thinking that maybe I would have liked a colored sash, maybe something peachy or gold, to match my flowers.
2. While we’re at it, I’d have picked shoes (dyables, or something sparkly?) to match the sash! The shoes I wore were so NOT special!

3. Hair up, hair down? I wore my hair half and half, with some loose tendrils in the front. My photographer had said, “Don’t do the loose tendrils! They will block your face and ruin some of your photos!” I didn’t listen, since I had my heart set on a gorgeous, romantic hairstyle I saw in some bridal magazine. But he was right! They looked pretty from the front, but not so great from any other angle. So listen to my photographer, and keep your wisps tucked away where they belong!

4. Total Invitation Renovation: Not having a fortune to spend, my invitations were very plain, very simple, and very boring. Black on cream. If I had a do-over I would not want to spend more money on fancy cardstock and expensive graphics. But maybe I would have written out my invitations by hand (I am artistic and I could have done some pretty calligraphy) and given the template to the printer to print up. Maybe loosened up the traditional wording a little bit. Maybe added some “swirly goodness” a la I Dream of Letters (I am a little bit obsessed with her stuff!)

An actual Bridal Party: I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone, so I let all moms, sisters, and flower girls (rather mom of flower girls) pick their own dresses. This mean my mom wore a stunning, floor length gold gown, my mother-in-law a pretty peacock-blue dress, my sister was in pink, one sister-in-law wore something soft and multi-colored, and my other sister-in-law came in leopard print!! So maybe, now that I think about it, it would have been a good idea to give a little guidance. Like maybe just pick a color and stick with it! And have the guys wear matching ties too, while we’re at it!

So that’s pretty much it. All small details in the grand scheme of things, but fun to consider nonetheless. And maybe it will give other brides out there the opportunity to rethink anything they might not have thought about at first!